350-year-old gold and crystal ring declared treasure

A 350-year-old gold and crystal ring, which may have belonged to a former Lord of Man, has been declared as treasure.

The ring - found by metal detectorist Lee Morgan in December 2020 - dates to the late 1600s and is a Stuart-period mourning ring, sometimes handed out at funerals to commemorate the person who died and usually included their initials.

Curator for Archaeology at Manx National Heritage, Allison Fox, says: The quality suggests that it was made for, or on behalf of, an individual of high status. It is unlikely that we will be able to establish for certain who owned the ring or whom it commemorated, but there is a possibility that it may have been associated with the Stanley family, previously Lords of Man.

"The initials JD may refer to James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby and Lord of Man, a supporter of the Royalist cause in the Civil War. Letters and documents from the time show that he signed his named as J Derby, so the initials JD would be appropriate for him."

The ring is Mr Morgan's third treasure find on Manx shores after he discovered a hoard of silver coins from the 1300s in 2013 and a silver ingot from between 950 AD and 1075 AD in 2019.

Now, the ring will go on display at the Manx Museum, prior to travelling off island for review by the Treasure Valuation Committee, an independent Committee which meets at the British Museum.